definition
strict definition
water mill
A place where flowing water is redirected into mechanical energy for use nearby.
A water mill is a place where flowing water, usually in a stream or river, is redirected through a wheel or other device into mechanical energy which is used on the same site or nearby.
Moving water drives a wheel or another mechanism whose mechanical output is used at the mill or nearby. Flow in a stream or river is usual, without requiring one particular wheel arrangement.
A hydroelectric power plant converts water movement into electricity. The water mill supplies local mechanical work, so a water-driven installation is not necessarily an electric generating plant.
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A structure converting wind-driven blade motion into mechanical power for use on the same site or nearby.